Thursday, May 17, 2012

Slate.com: Epic Fail

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," just about as tolerant as the average human being ... which means we need work. Admitting it. If you consider yourself tolerant, blessed be! Work in progress here.

I always thought Slate.com was a serious site, but a video making the rounds proves otherwise. I saw the repulsive thing over at The Wild Hunt Blog (in my sidebar), and I will now try with my extensive superpowers to place the link below:

This pathway will take you to a little video of "advice" offered by one of Slate.com's contributors. Apparently a Christian wife wrote in to complain of her failing marriage. When she married "Mr. X," he was an atheist, but he would occasionally attend church with her. Then he became Wiccan, and that is just too much for "Mrs. X." She considers it a personal affront.

The advice columnist (this loathsome project is called "Dear Prudence") peppered her anti-Wiccan commentary with ridiculous images of Satanic beings drinking goat's blood ... and many other stereotypes that do Pagans an injustice. Then, in her moment of seriousness, this "advisor" told the woman to go ahead, dump her husband, and get on with her good Christian life.

I'm really offended by the cavalier way Slate.com treated a serious philosophical difference in a marriage, particularly since they made such a joke of Wicca.

So, let's be serious about this topic for a moment, which is something Slate.com seemed unable to be.

When one marries, he or she enters into a contract that assumes a static situation. In other words, you pledge to love a person as he or she stands before you at that moment. But life isn't static. It's dynamic. People change, sometimes drastically. Honestly I would say about 50 percent of the changes are good, and 50 percent are bad. The only constant is that change happens.

I admit, on this one I am stumped. When someone you have married changes beyond your wildest expectation, and you don't like it one bit, do you stay? Do you go?

Let's flip-flop the situation that Slate.com treated with such contempt. Suppose you're a Pagan, and your spouse is an atheist, and suddenly your spouse becomes a Christian. It goes without saying that your newly-minted Christian spouse is going to try to convert you ... otherwise, according to the busy god, you go to Hell.

Kinda hearing rock lyrics in my head. "Should I stay, or should I go?"

A Pagan could go without qualm. Things have changed, the marriage isn't working out, and we must harm none, including ourselves.

Now, if the woman who wrote in to Slate.com is really as Christian as she claims, however, she has absolutely no grounds upon which to end her marriage. The New Testament is silent on many things, but explicit in its denunciation of divorce. Therefore, if she divorces her Wiccan spouse, she will go to Hell, while he may get a posh Summerland full of fabulous bored deities.

My very serious advice to this woman is that she should try to maintain her marriage and be a bit more open-minded about her husband's dynamic change. Truth be told, Wiccans have no particular axe to grind with Christians, so long as the latter are respectful. And the Bible tells women to respect their husbands. So there you have it.

See, this is why I pay you to take my free advice. If you consult moron websites like Slate.com and run up against "Prudence," and she makes light of your plight, well, you could have come here to "The Gods Are Bored" for the big, broad, flexible outlook!

5 Comments:

The issue for me starts before the grotesque video, when Prudence says "Wiccan". Her tone makes it clear that she doesn't take it seriously. And I agree with some of the commentors. The man has a case of 'new and shiny'. But he's no different than any born again christian. It's just a different 'flavor' of fanansism.

My wife and I married 59 yrs, are only weddingd, births, funeral and Christmas non faith industry followers. We follow the laws of common decency love and fellowship without becoming tangled within a web of lies and fairy tales. we are non violent people and do our best whenever possible to help each other without complaint. I tell my wife "I love you" several times a day which is returned twofold.

I don't put a label on myself, but if I must I guess it would be a Goddess loving earth mother. I've been with my husband over 20 years-lots of changes we've been through, my feeling is as long as you respect each others belief you should stick together. Now abuse is a different story altogether.She should be glad he believes in something.